Fresh from debuting their Burlap restaurant in Del Mar, chef Brian Malarkey and partner James Brennan are already making plans to open a new dining spot in La Jolla and expand their popular restaurant-cum-lounge concept to other cities outside San Diego.

The La Jolla restaurant, which likely will be in the style of a neighborhood fish market, should open by next spring, and its name will play off the fabric theme employed with Burlap and the duo's Searsucker restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Once the La Jolla spot opens on Herschel Avenue near Wall Street, Malarkey and Brennan are hoping to take their three restaurant concepts to other areas within California, including Orange County, and out of state as well. Possible locales could include Seattle, Atlanta and Arizona, said their publicist, Jamie Lynn Sigler. High-profile foodie destinations like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York, however, are not areas they're looking at, she added.

In all, they're planning 15 new restaurants over a 5-year period.

Malarkey, who achieved celebrity status when he became a semi-finalist on Bravo's "Top Chef" television program, and Brennan, owner of the Stingaree nightclub in downtown San Diego, have combined their talents to produce restaurants that are both dining and entertainment destinations.